Bloodwynd
by Dread Pirate Rinja
Summary: Majutsusha were monsters of myth. At least, that was what Kamiya Kaoru thought, until she met the most fearsome Majutsusha of them all… and discovered that the real Battousai was nothing like the legendary demon she had heard of. AU. Hiatus.
1. One: The Civil Outlaw

_Warnings include language, violence, and a horrendous distortion of the Rurouni Kenshin story._

_Many thanks to my beta reader, Nekotsuki. _

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_wynd: (n.) alley_

_Majutsusha: a term I horribly coined – 'majutsu' means 'black magic; sorcery', thus 'majutsusha' roughly means one who practices 'majutsu'._

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_Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all affiliated characters, storylines, and settings belong to the wonderful Watsuki Nobuhiro and all companies holding title to its license. Used without permission for no profit._

* * *

**Bloodwynd**  
Rurouni Kenshin

**One: The Civil Outlaw**

The streets of the new capitol were eerily quiet these days, Kaoru noted as she swept off the front porch of her small kenjutsu dojo. Usually even her area of town on the outskirts was bustling with at least a handful of merchants peddling their wares. The near-deafening silence was far too creepy. True, she had heard of the recent string of murders involving magic on the other end of the capital, but that shouldn't cause everyone on this end to run and hide. Nobody had actually _spotted_ Battousai, who was supposedly responsible for the murders. Hadn't he died in the war anyway? The Politicians had eliminated the Majutsusha, hadn't they? She personally wasn't too worried; as the temporary headmaster of her dojo, she could handle herself against magic. Her father had trained her well.

With a sigh, she looked back at her lonely little dojo. To tell the truth, though, there hadn't been much of an interest in kenjutsu lately, which surprised her greatly after the ban on magic. She thought people might be more interested in learning how to defend themselves, and kenjutsu was a perfectly legal alternative to magic use. Part of her knew, however, that that wasn't really the case. Truth be told, nobody wanted to have anything to do with any art considered even remotely violent after the war, even if that was a decade ago. She had been almost too young to remember it herself, but she knew more than enough people who _did_ remember to fill in the horrendous details for her. It had been a bloody, frightening time to live in.

Shuddering, she swept that thought aside with the same fervor with which she swept the leaves off her porch. Autumn was always a beautiful time, but sometimes the housework was almost too much to deal with by herself. Her stomach grumbled, and she frowned at the thought of trying to cook – _Try_ _is the key word_, her own voice in the back of her mind snickered. Oh, she knew her cooking was bad. She was the one who had to put up with it on a daily basis, after all. Maybe a trip to Tae's inn was in order.

Finished clearing the leaves off her porch, she put the broom back into the supply closet and brushed her hands off on her workout gi, which had already been smudged with dirt and whatever else it had managed to get on it while Kaoru cleaned. She took a quick bath and changed into a fresh uniform before she grabbed her money pouch and left for the inn.

* * *

"Kaoru-chan! How nice it is to see you again!" Tae greeted as soon as Kaoru stepped through the wooden doorway. 

"It's good to see you as well, Tae-chan! How are you?" Kaoru gave a bright smile.

Tae's expression faltered only slightly, but it was enough that Kaoru saw the worry lining her friend's eyes. "Oh, I suppose I'm alright," Tae replied cheerily as she led Kaoru into the dining area. "Here, have a seat over at this table, Kaoru-chan. I'll have Tsubame bring you some tea right away."

"Thank you," Kaoru said after Tae had bustled away, not even sure that she'd been heard.

Even Tae looked a little nervous, Kaoru realized as she sipped her tea. Her friend had tried to put on an air of acting like nothing was amiss, and that she was perfectly fine… but Kaoru knew the girl well enough to tell that she was far more jittery than usual. There weren't many customers in the inn, also out of the ordinary for a place renowned for its good food and service. Well, at least that much was in order – as always, her food was absolutely delicious, and the service was as outstanding as ever. But when Kaoru began to lavish her usual compliments on Tae, she seemed to accept them half-heartedly.

"You seem upset today," Kaoru said quietly, quirking an eyebrow. "Is everything alright?"

Tae looked around the restaurant almost suspiciously before she seated herself across from Kaoru with a sigh. "Oh, I guess it's as alright as it can be. I guess you haven't heard the rumor that Battousai's been sighted on this side of town," she said with a low voice.

"Battousai? The Majutsusha? I thought they didn't exist anymore."

"They're not supposed to be around, but there is a warning up – signed by a Politician, no less – that there has been a dangerous criminal sighted in our area, and that we should be careful. Everyone's assuming that it's the one responsible for the murders last week, and you know what _those_ rumors say."

Kaoru snorted. "That's a ghost story, Tae. Battousai doesn't exist anymore, and neither do Majutsusha. This is all the result of bored socialites who have nothing better to do with their lives than make up rumors like that."

Tae gnawed on her lower lip for a minute before she replied, "You're probably right, but that doesn't mean I'm any less worried. It looks like the people in this area are listening – business was pretty slow today, and that warning only got posted yesterday evening."

"You know what they say; rumors spread like wildfire," Kaoru said with a sigh.

"Kaoru – I know you don't like it when we worry about you, but since you _are_ a single woman living in that dojo by yourself…"

"Tae, we've been over this before. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

"I know, but… just… please, just be careful." Tae's eyes were brimming with worry, and Kaoru felt a little guilty. She knew her friends worried about her regardless of her reassurances that she was fine.

"I'll be careful," she relented. "I promise."

And she did mean it enough that Tae looked relieved. They talked briefly after that about business until another customer arrived and Tae had to get up. Kaoru paid her bill and bid her friend farewell.

After Tae's warning, the darkening sky seemed to creep in around her ominously, making Kaoru feel much more ill at ease than she had when she'd left the dojo. A small tingling in the back of her mind told her that she should be careful, and she listened; her grip around the handle of the shinai tucked into her obi tightened. Almost every little noise made her jump reflexively, her heart pounding heavily in her chest.

_This is ridiculous,_ a voice in her head finally told her as she tried to close her eyes and even out her breath. _You have more self-control than to be scared by a silly ghost story. Get a grip, Kamiya Kaoru._

She was proud of herself when she didn't flinch at the sudden sound of police whistles blowing shrilly behind her. Stepping to the side to let them pass through, her eyes widened and she lost her grip on her self-control when she thought she heard the name 'Battousai' whisper through the police ranks as they sped down the main thoroughfare. Quickening her pace, she decided that it was best if she got back to the dojo as quickly as she possibly could.

But as she approached the final bridge on the road back to her dojo, she froze as she watched a figure stagger along in the dark on the bridge ahead of her. The figure wore a wide-brimmed hat and a heavy cloak, leaning heavily on a stick as he walked along. Taking a deep breath, she figured he must be some kind of drunken farmer headed back to his home further down the road. But that thought vanished as the man groaned and pitched into the side of the bridge, collapsing against the railing. Releasing her white-knuckled grip on her shinai, she rushed up to the bridge.

"Are you okay, sir?" she asked hesitantly as she approached. The figure was completely still, and didn't answer. Kaoru looked around the road wildly to see if anyone else was coming who might be able to help, but she saw nobody. Biting her lip, she knelt down beside the man and reached out a hand to shake his shoulder. "Sir? Can you hear me?"

It was then that she noticed the heavy cloak she had her hand against was damp, and that it concealed a rather thin shoulder for a man. A woman? Carefully, she moved the now-crooked hat aside, and was shocked to find long, reddish hair glinting in the moonlight. Turning the figure on its side, she noticed that although the face was rather delicate-looking (_Pretty_, the voice said), the angular jaw line was definitely masculine. A boy, perhaps. She brushed some of the fine red hair out of the man's face, and noticed then that only the top half of his head had red hair – underneath, the hair was definitely black. The walking stick – still gripped tightly in the man's guard-clad hand – looked rather elaborate for a simple stick, with a sword-like grip in its center of its twisted shaft. There was a fresh bandage on the man's left cheek, a strange black tattoo under his closed left eye and a small scar across the bridge of his nose. The man was both strange and intriguing all at the same time. As she moved her hand to check his forehead for a fever, she noticed then that blood coated her palm.

"Oh my god," she breathed, casting a wide-eyed, worried glance at the man's still, pale face. "You're hurt!"

_Brilliant observation,_ the voice in her mind chided sarcastically, and she told it to shut up. She quickly moved an arm under the boy's shoulders and got him up enough to lift him awkwardly to his feet, pulling one of his arms around her shoulder with one hand and putting her other arm around his waist. The walking stick fell from his limp fingers, so she bent down to pick that up as well and held it in the hand gripping his side. He stirred slightly with the movement, murmuring something she couldn't quite pick up before he seemed to drift off again. He had a nice voice, she noted absent-mindedly as she struggled down the road back to her dojo. And she noticed that despite his slender frame, he was heavier than she thought he would be.

Luckily, it wasn't far to her dojo from the bridge – she could tell he was very much not well from the scorching heat in the hand she gripped against her shoulder, his heavy breathing and the way his face scrunched in pain with every misstep. She almost cried out in relief when she saw the dojo, encouraged enough to quicken her pace. Shuffling and grunting with the effort it took to hoist the limp body of the boy up the small set of stairs into the practice room, which was the closest room. Settling the boy on his back on the floor and placing the walking stick above his head, she quickly ran back and shut the main gate before she ran to get medical supplies from the dojo's supply closet. Kenjutsu had its fair share of injuries, so she always kept the medical kit stocked. Then again, it helped that the old man who had served as her guardian until she came of age was also the head of the local medical clinic.

Kneeling down next to the boy once more, she lit several candles so she could properly see where he was hurt. Once she got a closer look at his face, however, she realized that her estimation on his age was probably quite off – in the candlelight, she could see lines around his eyes and mouth that indicated he'd been through much more than a simple boy would have been through. He was definitely young-looking, but she had a strange feeling that he might be older than her own eighteen years. It was hard to tell, though.

She unfastened the heavy, ragged black cloak from its clasp at his shoulder, and as she parted the fabric to show the lighter tunic underneath and numerous pouches tucked into his belt, she blanched at the sight of the blood staining the right half of his shirt. Her hands wavered uncertainly over the shirt, trying to figure out how to remove it; with a wince she realized she'd have to replace it anyway because there was no way she'd be able to get the blood out of it. Pulling out a thin-bladed knife, she breathed an apology as she cut the shirt down the middle and moved the pieces aside to get a better look at what she was dealing with. The first thing she noticed – besides the blood, of course – was that the young man was in considerably good shape. He had lean, chiseled muscles, despite the presence of several old scars across his stomach and chest. This man had seen a lot of action, and her age estimation went up another few years.

There was a lot of blood, but it looked like most of it came from a bullet hole in the young man's shoulder, and a deep gash in his side. There were several faint burnt-looking patches across his chest, but they didn't seem quite as serious as the other two wounds, which were still bleeding, much to her dismay. Taking a clean cloth, she dipped it into the bucket of drinking water – Genzai had taught her to always use clean water for this – and cleared the blood from around the wounds as best she could. The gash looked like it could use stitches, and the bullet wound seemed inflamed around its edges. Slipping her hand under the back of his shoulder, she felt around for an exit wound and gulped when she didn't feel one. She didn't know if she could deal with an infection, much less getting the bullet out of the wound, so for the time being she pressed a clean cloth compress against the small hole and the gash, and wrapped a bandage tightly across the young man's muscled chest and across his abdomen. She was going to need to fetch Genzai, so she hoped that the compresses would help slow the bleeding long enough for her to get him. Biting her lip, she knew she hated leaving the wounded stranger by himself in her dojo, but if she wanted him to live, she'd have to get help.

Quickly tossing his black cloak back across his chest, she rinsed her hands off and bolted out the door, taking her shinai with her. She hoped he would still be alive when she returned.

* * *

Consciousness returned far too slowly, but then as he realized he hurt, he recalled that he had been wounded. He vaguely remembered a bridge and a girl's voice calling out to him, but after that – or what she had said – eluded him. Opening his eyes slowly, he noticed he was in a dimly-lit room – a dojo, from the looks of it. Carefully, he winced and moved himself into a sitting position, side and ribs protesting morosely at the effort. In the process, the cloak fell away from his chest and he saw that someone had taken the time to bind his wounds. They weren't well-bound by any means, but not bad. His staff was resting above his head, he saw now. The sight offered a small measure of relief, meaning that whoever had brought him there was neither an enemy nor saw him as one. 

Blinking away the blurry edges of his vision, he wondered where his 'rescuer' had gone, and what kind of person would just pick someone up off the road and trust them enough to leave them alone. Most people were incredibly suspicious these days, whatnot with all the crazy rumors about the Battousai going on a murderous rampage in the capital. That was what had caused him problems in the first place. While the murderer had been using magic with eerily similar effects to his own style, he had not been the one to kill those people. He might have the capacity to kill, but he would never murder anyone in cold blood – not since the war had he ever done something like that again.

He shuddered, roughly scrubbing one hand over his eyes as he tried to think of something else. Like where he was, for that matter. He had been trying to get out of the capital when the police caught up with him. They'd attacked first and had ignored his pleas to talk it out, and he had been forced to protect himself. None of them had died, but it was enough to prove to them that he was indeed the Battousai. He'd been hurt in the scuffle but had barely managed to get away, and had been on the run for several days since. They'd nearly caught up to him again, but he'd ducked into an alleyway and let them pass by.

And by the way his vision wavered and his head felt like a cannon ball on his neck, he realized he'd been injured pretty badly. He would have to thank the person who took care of him before he left. Whoever had helped him would be in trouble for harboring and aiding a wanted criminal.

It took him a moment to register the fact that he heard loud voices outside, speaking rudely to someone on the road. Two burly men, he realized after he concentrated and found their life forces. Magic users, at that. Not talented ones, but they had a little knowledge. They were speaking roughly to a smaller man – elderly, likely – and a young woman outside the dojo. He frowned when he heard them strike out against the older man, and the girl was yelling something angrily. She had a bright, enthusiastic life force, but a fighting spirit would do nothing for her against even amateur magic users.

Without another thought on the matter, he snagged his cloak and refastened it around his shoulders – noticing then that his ruined tunic was missing, but no matter – and grabbed the staff as he painfully pushed himself to his unsteady feet. Gritting his teeth, he hurried outside as fast as he was able, and just in time to see the young woman rush by the open gate with a shinai held high in both hands. With a muttered curse, he got as far as the bottom step when he heard one of the two men begin chanting a rather nasty spell that he knew as well. Quickly, he traced the outlines of the runes for a protective spell, muttering the ancient tongue rapidly as he did so, and he managed to pinpoint the girl's location and strike the ground with a shout just before the man finished his spell. He heard the man squawk with surprise when his own spell failed, and the resounding _crack _as the girl's shinai connected heavily with his shoulder. His light faded.

He felt rather than heard the second man's summoning spell, and with another curse he began chanting again a counter-spell, and then drew out a binding spell in the ground with the end of his staff. The second man's voice faltered when he realized the summon wasn't bringing anything to his aid, and his voice went quiet all together as the binding spell took effect. Another _crack_, and the second man's light faded as well. They weren't dead – those two – but they wouldn't be messing with this girl for a while. Satisfied that the danger was no longer present, the adrenaline rushed out of his system and left him feeling horribly weak. Stabbing the bottom end of the staff into the soft dirt, he leaned heavily on it for support and tried to will the dark edges of his vision to go away.

"And what, might I ask, are you doing on your feet?"

He looked up suddenly at the girl's voice, and at the concern evident in her expression as she regarded him warily. The old man was conscious again, but the girl was supporting him with a hand on his back she helped him on to the grounds. That voice – he realized it was the same voice that had called out to him on the bridge, which meant—

"…You're the one who brought me in, aren't you?" he asked quietly, surprised at how shaky his own voice sounded.

"Is this the injured boy you told me about?" the old man asked.

_Boy?_ he thought amusedly, quirking an eyebrow. He would have chuckled at the comment had he had the strength to do so, but at this point he wasn't sure how much longer he could remain where he was.

"Yes," she replied to both questions. "Genzai-sensei, tell him he shouldn't be on his feet; he was pretty badly wounded."

The world swayed gently and his legs felt like rubber, and the voices sounded far away and faded altogether, save for the startled yelp of the girl. He saw her running towards him with a concerned frown on her face and tried to apologize for worrying her, but as blackness blotted out his vision entirely, he wasn't sure he had.

* * *

"How is he, Genzai-sensei?" Kaoru asked quietly as Genzai wiped his bloody hands on a clean towel. They had moved the young man into Kaoru's room; she said she could sleep in the guest room. Though it looked like the young man was breathing evenly in rest, she didn't like the frown on Genzai's wizened face. 

"Well, these wounds are several days old, from the look of it," Genzai said worriedly. "I got the bullet out, but I'm worried that he might have been poisoned by the lead or that infection will set in further. It was already starting to get infected."

"He's not going to… die, is he?"

The frown disappeared. "Heaven's no, child. It just might take a little longer for him to recover, is all. He was lucky that you found him, though – a few more days with that kind of injury, and who knows what could have happened to him. He'll need to rest a while."

Kaoru nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. She recalled coming back to the dojo with Genzai, and beating down the two thug magic-users who had caused them trouble outside the grounds. She knew her training was the only reason that she and Genzai had managed to make it out of the situation relatively unscathed, though she did wonder why they both seemed to pause in the middle of their magic spells. Maybe they were simply thugs, and were only trying to bluff. At any rate, they were no longer an issue, she surmised. But when she saw that the young man had wandered outside during the conflict, at first she was shocked – she honestly hadn't expected him to wake up so soon. She had been even more surprised when he'd barely managed to murmur an apology as he collapsed. Apology for what? He was probably just delirious from the blood loss, but even so, he had seemed like a rather pleasant young man from all of the two things he said to her.

_Or maybe that's just what _you _want him to be,_ the voice in the back of her mind smirked. She frowned again. It wouldn't be polite to judge him anyway before he was fully lucid.

"He'll need you to change the bandages on his wounds twice a day, and I can take out his stitches at the end of the week if he's doing well enough," Genzai was saying. "Make sure he gets plenty of rest and nourishment…" At that, the healer's voice trailed off a bit, and he looked a little perplexed.

"What is it?" Kaoru asked, worriedly.

"Well… ah…" Genzai stuttered. "About that…"

_Your cooking, you idiot,_ the voice in Kaoru's head scolded. _He's worried about you feeding him your infamous cuisine._

Kaoru turned up her nose. "I know my cooking's bad," she said, insulted, "but I have yet to kill anyone with it."

Genzai laughed at that. "That is true, though if you'd like I can send someone over to help you out with that."

With a sigh, Kaoru nodded. It wouldn't be such a good first impression of her if she fed this man bad food. _Not that you care, right?_ the stupid voice said mockingly. She frowned again. That was the issue – she _did _care, for some reason.

"All right, then. It's late, so you need to get some rest, Kaoru-chan. I will be back again tomorrow evening to check on his progress."

"Thank you so much for coming at such a late hour, Genzai-sensei," Kaoru said with a bow. "I don't know what I could've done for him without your help."

Genzai smiled. "It's not a problem at all. Who knows, maybe this young fellow can help you out a bit around here when he's all better."

Kaoru felt heat rush to her face, and she looked away embarrassedly. Genzai laughed, and then bid her farewell as he let himself out of the dojo. With a sigh, Kaoru looked back down at the young man laying on her futon, resting. Brushing a few stray red hairs out of his face, she was relieved to notice that his fever – though not entirely gone – was much lower than it had been before. He stirred at her touch, but did not awaken.

"Sleep well," she said quietly as she readjusted the blankets over him. She blew out the candles, left a small tray with rice – that much she knew how to make properly – and tea, and then went to the room across the hall to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Kaoru wasn't sure if she was relieved to find the young man still asleep, or worried. She could tell he hadn't woken in the night, because he was in the exact same position she'd left him in and the tray of food had not been touched. She was in the process of setting up the supplies necessary to change his dressings when she heard the bell at the gate ring. Startled at first, she then remembered that Genzai said he would send someone her way to help with cooking. Taking one last look at the stranger, she rushed to the gate. 

"Tsubame-chan!"

"Ah, good morning, Kaoru-san! Um, Genzai-sensei told me you had an injured young man staying here, and…" Tsubame said meekly, voice trailing off.

Kaoru felt her face redden again, and she laughed nervously as she put her hand behind her head. "Well, I guess everyone knows my little secret now!" she exclaimed, still laughing. "Come on in, and let me know if you need me to pick up anything at the market."

Tsubame smiled and nodded as she followed Kaoru into the kitchen.

"I didn't know you could cook, Tsubame-chan," Kaoru noted as she showed the younger girl around the kitchen.

"Tae-san has been teaching me," Tsubame said, ducking her head. "She gave me the day off work today to come here since she thinks it would be a good experience for me. She wanted me to send you her greeting as well."

"Did she, now?" Kaoru said thoughtfully. "I'll have to thank her for sparing you. I really should take lessons from her myself."

Tsubame giggled. "She is a good teacher."

"Well, take a look here. Do you need anything else?"

Looking into the cabinet, Tsubame shook her head. "It looks like you have enough ingredients for me to come up with something," she replied, her tone sounding more confident. The girl really was quite shy, but Kaoru was pleased to see that she'd found something she could tackle with assurance.

"In that case, I will leave you be. Call for me if you need anything," Kaoru said, though Tsubame didn't seem to hear her as she began talking to herself about which dish to make first, completely engrossed in her current task. Kaoru smiled as she headed back into the main part of the house.

The stranger was still asleep when she quietly entered her room once again. As she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead to check for a fever, he startled her as his eyelids slid open to reveal startling, glittering violet. Pulling her hand back as if she'd been burned, she opened her mouth to begin babbling an apology when he smiled softly, stopping short any words she might've said.

"So it wasn't a dream," Kaoru thought she heard the stranger murmur. His voice was a little higher-pitched than she remembered, but just as smooth.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

The man seemed to wake up a little further, and the soft smile was quickly replaced with an expression of shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry to have troubled you, miss—" he said apologetically as he tried to sit up, but cut himself off with a wince at the movement.

"You shouldn't be moving around too much yet," Kaoru chided softly as she helped him lay back down. "You're lucky these wounds aren't terribly serious, but you'll have to rest a while longer if you want them to heal properly. I've been worried about you, since that little stunt you tried to pull last night was _not _the most brilliant thing to do, and—"

The young man frowned suddenly, looking away. "I'm sorry," he said again, uncertainly.

_Now he thinks you're angry at him, you idiot!_ the voice scolded. "Oh! There's no need. I'm just relieved that you're all right, is all," said Kaoru defensively, waving her hands in front of her face. "I'm going to change your bandages now, just to make sure your wounds are still on the mend."

The stranger nodded, complying as she helped him sit up slowly. He looked a little surprised to see his wounds bound, but said nothing as she carefully unwound the long linen strips. With some relief, she noticed that his wounds were no longer bleeding, and that the edges of the skin around them looked less inflamed and red. But she felt her cheeks heat once again as she worked; it was so different being this close to a bare-chested man when he was awake than while he was unconscious. Especially since he was even better-looking than she'd realized, with his intense eyes and quiet manner…

_Now look at you, all dreamy-eyed over someone whose name you don't even know,_ the voice mocked. Frowning as she cleaned his wounds, she realized that she had yet to ask him his name.

"Are… are they that bad?" he asked suddenly, and with a gasp she realized he'd been watching her work.

"Ah, no! They're healing nicely, actually," she said, startled. "I was just thinking that I forgot to introduce myself. How silly of me." She giggled nervously as she finished winding and tying off the bandages. "I'm Kamiya Kaoru, and this is my kenjutsu dojo. I found you unconscious on the bridge near here last night, so please forgive my boldness for bringing you here to care for your injuries."

"Oh, no, there's nothing to forgive. Thank you very much for doing that, Kaoru-dono," the man replied sheepishly. "This humble one goes by the name of Himura Kenshin… I should be the one asking your forgiveness for causing you so much trouble."

"Kenshin-san, is it? It's no trouble at all, really," Kaoru replied. "And there's no need to address me that way; it makes me feel old." Kenshin smiled that soft smile again, and it made her insides feel warm. She was sure her face was a deep red by now, and she quickly turned away and changed the subject. "Are you hungry, Kenshin-san? My friend Tsubame-chan is whipping up something delicious in the kitchen, and you'll need to eat if you want to regain some strength."

"Really, that's not necessary… I'm very sorry for the trouble…" Kenshin began again, but his stomach growled loudly, and Kaoru shot him a glare.

"You will eat, and you will not insist that you are an unwelcome guest in my home until you are fully recovered," snapped Kaoru. Kenshin gulped and nodded, and she smiled. "Good. Now that that's all settled, I will go see how Tsubame-chan is doing, and I'll be right back. Please take it easy."

Kenshin nodded, settling back down into the futon with only a small wince. Kaoru smiled once more after she'd turned her back and walked over to the kitchen. This Kenshin guy was indeed quite a polite young man, and honestly, she didn't mind the company.

* * *

Over the two days that Kenshin spent at the Kamiya dojo, he learned several interesting things about the young woman Kaoru. One, she was an _awful_ cook, but to be honest, he'd had worse. Her cooking was still edible, at least. Two, she was entirely too trusting. Beyond asking him his name, she had hardly asked anything about his past, or who he really _was_, for that matter. He had called her on that, asking her why she was so willingly letting him – a stranger – into her home without so much as a question to his background. She'd simply smiled and replied, "_Oh, everyone has at least one or two things in their past that they'd rather not talk about. It's just not my business to pry._" 

That surprised him; it was an almost reckless move on her side, especially since it quickly became apparent that she lived at the dojo alone. True, the old doctor – Genzai-sensei, he'd learned was his name – came on a regular basis to check up on her, but to him she was only putting herself in danger this way. It made him worry that she might pick up someone even more dangerous than he was with her trusting nature.

Then again, there weren't many people who were considered more dangerous than he was. Speaking of which, he was only endangering her the longer he stayed here; the police were bound to still be looking for him, and he was surprised that they hadn't been by here yet. Even though he wasn't actually guilty of the crimes they'd accused him of, he didn't want to run into further trouble with them.

She had a kenjutsu class that morning, and it had crossed his mind more than once to sneak out while she was teaching. However, he knew it would be extremely rude to do that to someone who had shown him so much kindness. While it would be for her own good that he left as soon as possible, he still felt guilty for even thinking about taking her hospitality for granted like that.

So he stayed, even though he was starting to feel a little fidgety. He wasn't used to sitting around in one place for so long; after all, he'd been in the capital for only a matter of hours before the police began chasing him down for murders he wasn't even in the area for. What a mess to walk into, he decided. But no matter, he would be gone from here in no time.

Once Kaoru deemed him well enough, that was. At this point, though, he figured he was well enough to at least try to repay some kindness by cooking lunch. He could still hear the shouts from the kenjutsu class; perhaps he would have it done by the time she finished, if he stuck with something simple. Slowly making his way to the kitchen, he noticed with a grimace that it wasn't necessarily in the best of order. After stoking up the fire enough to begin boiling the rice, he started a little organizing. It wasn't something that required a lot of exertion, he justified. Kaoru wouldn't be able to scold him very well for something in the past, after all.

He found some dried fish in the process, and decided that it would make a good filling if mixed with the right spices, which he also was pleased to find. Mincing the fish, he mixed it with a few spices and added a little sauce to make it stick together better, and after tasting it to satisfaction, he kept an eye on the rice. The practice must be long, he realized as he noticed he could still hear the shouts in the background. He dug out a small, rectangular serving dish, and once the rice was finished he proceeded to create several pieces of onigiri with the fish filling tucked inside. After he'd put on the finishing touches for the rice balls and arranged them on the dish, he froze, feeling an angered presence just behind him. With a grimace, he turned to find Kaoru glaring at him from the kitchen's entrance.

"And what do you think you're doing, Kenshin?" she demanded.

Offering the plate of onigiri out in front of him, he shot her a placating smile and said, "This unworthy one was just fixing lunch, Kaoru-dono. I thought you might be hungry after such a long training session…"

Kaoru suddenly seemed to notice that her kitchen had also been cleaned up and rearranged, and she cut him off. "Kenshin! What in the world were you thinking? You're still not recovered yet, and—"

Kenshin was suddenly in front of her, pressing one of the rice balls into her hand. "Please try one," he said with a smile, cutting her off.

Puzzlement crossed her face, and she looked at the rice ball with an eyebrow raised. At an encouraging look from Kenshin, she placed one end of it into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Surprise replaced the confusion, and suddenly Kenshin was worried – did it really taste that bad?

"Oh my god, this is delicious!" Kaoru exclaimed, and Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief. "…Hey! How did you learn how to make these so well?"

Kenshin rubbed his hand over the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, one does learn much from traveling alone for so many years…"

"Teach me!"

"Oro!" Kenshin squawked when she grabbed the collar of the loose workout gi he was borrowing, giving him a wide-eyed, pleading look. "Of course – it's really easy, actually—"

"Kaoru-sensei!" one of Kaoru's students, Kenshin assumed, called from down the hall. "Where are you, Kaoru-sensei?"

"Later, then?" he said.

Kaoru gave him an apologetic look as she fled down the hall and called that she was coming. She was still clutching the onigiri in her hand. Kenshin chuckled quietly to himself, but then froze when he felt a hostile presence outside the dojo's main gate. No, make that several presences. And two of them felt familiar, kind of like the two from a couple nights ago. With a curse, he nearly slammed the plate of onigiri back down on the table as he rushed back to the guest room – he'd moved into it as soon as he'd learned he had been taking up Kaoru's room, despite her protests that it wasn't any trouble at all – and grabbed the staff as he rushed outside.

Kaoru was already there, clutching a shinai in a defensive stance, her students huddled nervously behind her. Sure enough, the same two punks from the other night were back – each had assorted bandages from the injuries Kaoru had dealt them – but this time, they had a few friends. And they were angry… _very_ angry.

"We want to know how you were able to defeat our magic, bitch," one of them was saying by the time Kenshin managed to sneak outside undetected.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kaoru replied angrily. "Besides, you were the ones who came after me first. It's your own fault that you're hurt. Why don't you kindly remove your childish backsides from my property before I do it for you?"

Kenshin's eyes widened when he felt the stirrings of a rather powerful spell coming from the other side of the gate; there was one more person outside. Quickly muttering a counter-spell, he blocked off that threat as quickly as he could before he checked the back entrance for any intruders. Sensing none, he came up behind the children and told them to make for the back door in a low whisper. They nodded, scampering to the back of the property. Kaoru looked behind her with a surprised expression on her face.

"What are you doing out here?" she hissed, but he simply smiled and shrugged before he turned his attention back to the thugs, steeling his expression.

"Oh, I get it now," the first thug said, regarding the staff gripped in Kenshin's hand with a knowing look. "You were the one who stopped our attacks the other night, aren't you? Think you're so powerful, huh."

He felt Kaoru's surprised reaction rather than saw it, and for a moment he felt a little guilty. He really hadn't meant to hide it from her; it just never came up in conversation, even when he'd tried to bring it up to her.

"You should leave," Kenshin said, an edge of warning in his tone. "The sneakiness isn't appreciated, nor will it work."

Instinctively, the thug looked back towards the door with a surprised look, then turned back with a furious snarl on his face. "Damn you, I'll make sure you pay for that!"

"I don't wish to cause any trouble here."

"Well that's a shame, because that's what we're here for. You're going to get it along with the little girl, you bastard."

And with that, the man began chanting a spell loudly, but Kenshin saw directly through it when he realized the other three men were also muttering their own spells. Without a word, Kenshin began quickly tracing runes in the air in front of him, and with one loud exclamation, a barrier seemed to form around both himself and Kaoru. Kaoru stepped back in surprise, eyes widening as she watched the magician's battle take place. Kenshin realized then that she'd likely never seen one in action before; it would've been before her time that the serious ones took place. Without pausing, he began chanting a binding spell that targeted all four men before him at once, and also finished that before any of the thugs were able to complete their spells. They all fell silent once it took effect.

"Now that I have your attention," Kenshin said with a grim smile, "I will ask you one last time to leave Kamiya-dono alone, and to never return. You should know that magic wasn't originally created to be used to pick on people." They couldn't reply because of the binding spell, but he could tell by the frightened expressions in their eyes that they were realizing now that they'd seriously picked on the wrong person. "You're fortunate that I'm a considerate person, otherwise you would all be dead now. However, you will not be using magic ever again – I can guarantee that much."

He took one look back at Kaoru, expression softening further when he saw her wide-eyed surprise. He'd probably frightened her to death by now. Giving her an apologetic, grim smile, he said, "I'm sorry, Kaoru-dono… but would you please look the other direction for a moment?"

For a moment, he thought she wasn't going to listen when a determined light flickered in her eyes, but she complied after a quick nod. Turning back to the thugs, the cold-eyed expression locked firmly back in place, he began chanting the ancient words to a spell he absolutely hated using. No, not a spell, really – it was a curse, and hopefully the consequences of it would keep these punks from trying to use magic ever again. Drawing the ancient runes in the dirt before him, he finished the chant and then shouted the final word before he stabbed the end of the staff into the ground with such force that the air around them whipped up into a violent wind. Suddenly, there were five sharp cries as bright colored lights struck the four men – and the fifth, who was still outside the gate – and then they fell silent. Kenshin released the binding spells on them, and they regarded him with frightened, wary expressions.

"Now go," he spat with a glare, indicating the gate with a nod. They nodded violently and scrambled to their feet, quickly running towards the gate and down the road.

Once they were gone, he breathed a sigh of relief, but when he started to turn to face Kaoru, the strength suddenly bled from his legs and he was having trouble breathing. He sagged against the staff with a horrified realization that he'd used far too much energy on the curse, and he tried desperately to breathe properly to dispel the dark spots that were blotting out his vision. But before he fell to the ground, he felt Kaoru's arms hooking under his armpits as she moved to his side to help support him.

"Kaoru-dono… I'm… I'm so sorry," he panted, surprised that she'd moved to help him. She had to know who he was by now, and she was probably more than ready to turn him out of doors.

"Just… shut up," she snapped, helping him back into the dojo and back into the guest room.

Yep, she was furious with him, but he was confused. Why was she leading him back into the house? She helped him lay back down on the futon, and with a glare that spoke of death if he dared move from the spot, she quickly disappeared down the hall. Kenshin massaged his brows with one hand, cursing himself for not telling her sooner and for making her so angry at him. She returned soon after, with one of the onigiri he'd made and a clay mug of steaming tea. He let her help him sit up and accepted them with a quiet word of thanks.

"You idiot," she muttered, leaning in to check his bandages. She seemed relieved to find that the bandages were clean, and that the wounds still looked like they were healing.

"Kaoru-dono, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you angry," he said sheepishly. "I swear I meant to tell you sooner, but—"

She shot him a glare again, cutting him off. "No, I figured out after I saw your staff in a better light that you were a magic-user. I'm not _that_ stupid, Kenshin, and no, I'm not angry about that. But you really need to learn to take better care of yourself, you moron! What were you _thinking_, taking on those thugs while you're still injured? I mean, what if they had come at you with shinai instead of magic, or if you'd passed out in the middle of a spell? What would you have done _then_, hm?"

"Kaoru-dono…"

"Don't you 'Kaoru-dono' me. I just want you to take it easy, and keep your own health in consideration for once," she said with a sigh. "It's the least you could do."

Kenshin nodded meekly, taking a bite out of the onigiri in placation. Kaoru seemed pleased enough with the action that her shoulders relaxed, and the angry expression left her face. She watched him eat quietly for a few moments, seeming as though she wanted to say something.

"Kaoru-dono, about the magic…" he said after he'd finished the onigiri. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What did I tell you about prying into others' pasts?" she shot at him with an anger that didn't reach past the surface of her voice.

"This is me offering it, not you prying," Kenshin corrected. "There is a reason that this unworthy one has been trying to leave the last few days; I really don't think you realize how much of a liability I am by staying here, especially now that those thugs know of my abilities. They might report me to the police."

"But they were using magic, too! We have plenty of witnesses, Kenshin – my class was standing there when they showed up. The police wouldn't have a case against you."

Kenshin sighed; this wasn't getting very far. "That's the problem, Kaoru… I can't have the police find me here. You see… ah… they're kind of looking for me right now." Kaoru's eyes widened in shock, and Kenshin knew then that he was right – he really should leave, and not cause any more trouble for this girl. "Do you understand now, Kaoru-dono? I really should leave before they find me here. You might get in trouble for harboring a wanted criminal, and—"

"You're Battousai?" she squawked incredulously.

Kenshin bowed his head, thick red bangs obscuring his face; hearing her say it like that somehow made him feel even worse. He nodded slowly. "I am—was."

"But—but you couldn't be!" she exclaimed.

With a sigh, his hand slowly reached up to the bandage on his face, and he peeled it away to reveal the cross-shaped mark on his left cheek. It was one of the most noticeable trademarks of the legend Battousai, a stark piece of evidence that he truly was the demon in the legends. Kaoru stilled at the action, and Kenshin moved to get up.

"You aren't responsible for those murders," Kaoru said, and Kenshin froze. It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"I may have killed many people in my lifetime, but no, those were not my doing," he replied quietly. "Someone has managed to pin the blame for them on me, however, so I am still endangering you by staying here."

"I don't care about that," Kaoru said determinedly, meeting his surprised expression with a fierce one. "What you did back then in the war, that was in the past. I want you – the wanderer – to stay!" Suddenly, her eyes widened when she realized what she'd said, and a blush crept across her cheeks as she slapped a hand over her mouth and looked away. His eyes were easily as wide as hers were, he realized after a moment, and he didn't know what to say. "You could at least stay until your wounds have healed," she added quietly after a moment of awkward silence.

With a sigh, he realized that at his current state of weakness, it probably wasn't the best idea for his health to be on the road anyway. While he was surprised that she would accept the information about his past at such an easy stride, he kind of did want to stay with this girl. She was possibly the most intriguing person he'd met in a very long time, and he did also worry for her a little. If he could use his ability to protect her in thanks for all that she'd done for him so far, it really was the least he could do.

"All right, then," he said quietly after a moment. "To tell the truth, I am a little travel-weary. If you would have me stay, that is…"

Kenshin's jaw dropped when she suddenly sprang towards him and grabbed him into a tight embrace. He could feel her shaking a little against him, and he smiled softly down at her back as he placed his hand across it. Third lesson – despite her cheerful exterior, Kamiya Kaoru really was lonely.

Suddenly, she pulled away and shot him a wide-eyed look. "Wait a minute, if you were part of the war…" She frowned and shot him a suspicious look. "Just how old _are_ you?"

"I turned twenty-eight this past summer," he replied with a sheepish grin.

The shock that spread across her face made it quite difficult to keep from chuckling, despite the fact that it hurt his side a little. "That would make you almost thirty, and you hardly look like you're twenty! What in the world kind of magic do you use to make yourself look so young?"

His laughter echoed down the halls after that, and soon after she joined him. He decided that she would enjoy staying here, even if it was only for a little while.

* * *

_**.to be continued.**_

* * *

_Haha. Um. I'm going to go hide over there, behind that bullet-proof piece of glass under my rock. Please don't mind me. Or maim me. 8D; But if you've managed to make it this far, I'm impressed._

_This story idea hatched while I was rereading the manga, when Raijuta mentioned bringing back a generation of swordsmen who were "seen as sorcerers" (or some line like that in the translation I have) in their glory days. I immediately got the mental image of Kenshin as a 'sorcerer' or mage (essentially what I've described here – I even tried to draw him out with my shoddy sketching skills!), and then this story was born._

_I apologize ahead of time for slow updates. Comments are always appreciated, as I aim to improve. This is both a different-setting and "what-if" type AU. In fact, I believe this is my very first AU fiction. I tend to hate RurouKen AU, unless it's well-written and sticks to canon characterizations. Please let me know how I'm doing.  
_


	2. Two: The Mad Charlatan

_Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all affiliated characters and settings are the property of Watsuki Nobuhiro and all companies associated with the license and release of the series.  
_

* * *

_My apologies for the wait! This chapter was giving me fits, so I ended up scrapping what I'd originally planned on doing with it in favor of something that's (hopefully) a little more exciting. I still hate this chapter, but something is better than nothing for now, I hope. 8D; Further notes are at the end of the chapter. _

_Thank you _so very much _to Nekotsuki for a really helpful beta read and to Varethane for pointing out a few other issues (and for giving me ideas for things to come!). Also, no thanks to Varethane for providing crack!omake for a few future parts of the story that completely sidetracked me while writing this chapter. XD_

* * *

_  
-dono –_ an extremely antiquated and polite suffix for names (there really isn't a good English equivalent, I swear!)  
_kenjutsu_ – swordsmanship  
_kijutsu – _magic (no connotation)  
_kijutsudou – _the art of magic practice  
_kijutsushi – _one who uses kijutsu_  
majubyoki –_ another poorly-coined word, roughly meaning "black magic sickness"  
_Majutsusha –_ one who uses black magic (coined)  
_Shishou_ – a supremely honorific term for a master-like figurehead

_And do let me know if I've missed any!_

* * *

**Two: The Mad Charlatan**

_There were two dreams that often repeated in the dragon-child's mind._

_The first was of a time that was barely a recollection, of when he was very young and was not yet part of the dragon-kin. All of the dragon-kin were adopted, after all; it required a great deal of training in order to become a Master, and there was only one Master at a time. The dragons were fierce and immortal, and it was once believed that any who had allied with them would also be granted such attributes. Dragons were also mistrustful of humanity as a whole, and thus would only form a contract if they found one being worthy of making – and keeping – a bond. The dragon-child was on trial, and was not yet fully bonded with the Dragons. Only Masters were capable of such feats._

_In this dream, the dragon-child recalled the first time he had ever witnessed a Dragon Master. The man had been the epitome of strength and agility, with a booming, entrancingly deep voice that spoke a language he couldn't understand but wished he could. That man had become his savior in a very, very uncertain time when he had been on death's doorstep. The dream would always end when the Dragon Master gave him a new name, and a new life._

_The second dream was long after he'd received his new name, and had besmirched it with the gruesome title of Majutsusha. He'd been given another name, one that he had not accepted on his own, but would stick with him for the rest of his life as a grave reminder of what he had abandoned. Once again on the verge of death, he had been saved once again by an unlikely source – a quiet, gentle young woman who had suddenly appeared into his life, and managed to save him from himself._

_This night, he dreamed of her._

_Eight seasons, seven moons, forty-seven sunrises. Time, a concept that hadn't existed until everything – the things that had suddenly become so important to him – had ended. The number stood out in sharp contrast to a long string of memories, of a time and place that was all at once a wonderful recollection and yet the most painful experience that he had ever endured. In fact, sometimes it was so painful that he wasn't sure how he had survived._

_But when the smiling face of the woman – now long gone – came before him at night, he knew. He knew it was because of her, and that she would also be the driving force behind him in the future. And at that point in the same dream, he would always realize that he was indeed dreaming, for she was no longer alive. It was then that he would awaken._

_Tonight, this dream around, however, he never reached that realization, and for once she wasn't just a dream._

* * *

"Kenshin," a quiet voice filtered through the thin paper of the sliding door at the guest room. "Kenshin, are you awake?" 

Kenshin blinked; frowning as he sat up slowly, holding himself up with one hand and moving the other through the tangles in his hair. It was already mid-morning, and it had been quite some time since he'd ever slept that long. As he realized that Kaoru was probably the one who'd called him, he also realized that she was probably waiting for an answer.

"I am," he said, quickly reaching back to tie the long red and black strands into a low ponytail. The healing wounds in his shoulder and side faintly protested at the movement, but he quickly hid the discomfort as Kaoru nearly threw the door open.

Kenshin was surprised to see her holding a tray of breakfast, an almost proud grin spread across her face. He rarely saw her make anything once he'd learned – after a rather embarrassing display of a lack of control on his part – that her cooking was probably less than marginal, and it almost made him regret admitting he was awake. But she looked so happy that he couldn't deny her at least the courtesy of trying the food.

"Breakfast?" she asked, offering him the tray. Her tone was almost _too_ cheerful, and suddenly Kenshin felt a little nervous. He forced himself to nod anyway.

"Thank you, Kaoru-dono," he said softly. "I'm sorry I slept so late; I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."

Kaoru's smile widened, if it was possible. "Oh, it's no trouble at all. Tsubame came by this morning, so really it's not an issue. Besides, you probably still need the rest."

Ah, so she hadn't made breakfast after all, but that meant that she was pleased about something else. It was then that Kenshin noticed – she wasn't teaching a class like she should have been. And – more surprising to him, at least – she wasn't even wearing her practice clothing; rather, she donned a light, floral-patterned summer yukata.

She was planning something.

"Kaoru-dono...?"

"After you're finished eating, get dressed – we're going to the market," she stated cheerily. And no, it wasn't a question.

Kenshin normally wouldn't mind; in fact, he was more than willing to accompany Kaoru-dono to market. He hadn't been allowed off the dojo premises since he'd arrived a week ago, as he had been deemed "too injured" by his hostess. In spite of Kaoru's orders of bed rest (which she claimed were directly from Genzai-sensei, the elderly doctor), Kenshin had actually enjoyed his stay, and was surprised at how quickly he'd become accustomed to life at the Kamiya dojo. But no matter how much he would love to take the small trip, he couldn't avoid the fact that he was a wanted criminal. The police had to still be looking for him.

Of course, this either did not occur to Kaoru, or she had other ideas. "Well, hurry up and eat! Don't want the best of the produce to be snatched up before we get there," Kaoru said suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Kaoru-dono..."

"Hm?" A stern look, and then, "Are you still not feeling well?"

"No, this one feels just fine. It's just..." Kenshin looked away. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea, considering my unfortunate... _status _with the police right now."

Kaoru's mouth suddenly formed an 'o' as realization dawned. So she hadn't thought of that. But then she completely surprised him with an easy smile. "Well, then we'll need plenty of time to get you disguised, won't we?"

That was an option, though the idea didn't settle too well with Kenshin. But she was so earnest about this trip that he hardly felt right telling her no. He would just have to be extremely careful. Kenshin hummed an affirmative with a smile and a small nod – Kaoru seemed pleased enough with that – and then turned to the food, hoping it would take his mind off the sudden unease with the decision. He took a bite of the fish.

Really, Tsubame outdid herself on a regular basis. Either that, or he'd had too much of poor Kaoru's cooking since the last time the young girl had been by.

After Kenshin finished breakfast, he stripped down to the waist to replace the small bandage at his side that covered the only remnant of the injury that hadn't quite finished healing yet. As he reached for his own clothing, he realized that they had been ruined and that Kaoru had them thrown out. He hadn't even recalled as much, since he'd been lounging about the dojo in a simple, long sleeping yukata all week.

_Oh dear._ This ought to present an interesting situation. But it was just as well; the police had already caught sight of him in them, and he needed to come up with some sort of disguise anyway. Pulling the kimono back up over his shoulders and tying the obi at his waist, he left the room to look for Kaoru. He found her sitting out back on the steps, staring contentedly out over the small expanse of a traditional garden. He hated to break her mood, but...

"Kaoru-dono?" he asked quietly, taking care not to startle her.

"Kenshin! Come with me; my father's clothing might be a bit large for you, but it's worth trying, right? It'll only be for today, after all." She didn't seem surprised at his state of dress, so perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing.

"Kaoru-dono, you don't have to go through all that trouble just for me," Kenshin tried to say, but she'd already grabbed his hand and was pulling him back into the house.

Kaoru led him to a back room that smelled old, but clean. There was a suit of swordsman's armor in the back, a rack that held wooden replications of a katana and a shorter, matching wakizashi sitting beneath it along with several stone tablets and remnants of incense sticks. It was a shrine, likely a tribute to Kaoru's father. Kenshin felt a chill go down his spine as he entered the room; it felt like a special place, one sacred to Kaoru. He wondered briefly what the late Kamiya-sama would think of such a bloodied individual such as himself. Best not to think of that, he decided.

"Kenshin?"

Oh, she'd been talking to him, hadn't she? Blinking, he realized that she was standing in front of him, holding out a clean set of her father's clothing, a cautious expression on her face. He smiled in a quick reassurance that he was fine.

"Sorry, sometimes my mind wanders almost as much as I do," he said apologetically. "Are you sure you're fine with this?"

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "How many times do I need to tell you? Hurry up and get ready, or we're going to be late."

She shoved the clothing into his hands and nearly pushed him back into the guest room in a hurry, shutting the door behind him once he was inside. With a sigh, Kenshin changed into the borrowed clothing. The shoulders were a little wide, the sleeves on the long side, and the pant legs of the _hakama_ were also too long, but they would do. It had been a very long time since he'd worn kenjutsu training clothing, and he'd forgotten how comfortable they could feel.

Once he'd tied the obi, Kenshin pulled the small mirror out of the hand table's drawer, picked up a bandage, and carefully aligned it so that it completely covered the slightly raised x-marking on his left cheek. The marking burned a little at his touch, but that was usual. Putting the mirror away, he stood and poked his head into the hallway, and heard feminine laughter coming from the kitchen. Kaoru was likely with Tsubame, then. He just might have time to fix the issue of his rather distinctive hair with a light, temporary spell before she came back to check on him.

Kenshin closed the door and sat down in the middle of the room, taking a deep breath. Though he knew the spell wasn't nearly strong enough to require the use of the staff to ground the energy needed for it, he knew he'd still feel it. Eyes closed and hands fisted together in a meditative pose, he murmured the spell in its original poetic language, and felt the warm and familiar energy tug at his chest. Once he'd finished speaking, he opened his eyes to shining light and with the final word of power, he felt the change settle and saw the light fade, his breath leaving him with it.

There was a twinge in his chest as he tried to breathe, air not coming as readily as it should have, small stars flickering across his vision in dizzying patterns. Gods, was he really that drained? He pressed one hand against his chest and the other against the floor in a sudden need to steady himself. As strands of uniformly black hair drifted in front of his face, he knew that at least the spell had worked. It would last for a good twenty-four hours, more than long enough for a trip to the market and back.

After a few moments of panting, he finally felt his breathing steady, and strength slowly return. Perhaps he wasn't as drained as he'd initially thought, but it served as a good warning to make sure he was extremely careful. He sincerely hoped he wouldn't run into any trouble, though part of him knew that it probably wouldn't be avoided. Perhaps he could ask Kaoru for an extra shinai, just in case the need for protection arose.

"Kenshin?Are you all right?"

It was Kaoru's voice, and it held just the slightest undercurrent of concern. Kenshin wondered briefly if she'd sensed the spell he'd just cast, and carefully made sure he could stand steadily enough before he stood and padded over to the door. Thankfully, his legs weren't shaking and held his weight, and he could manage to breathe almost normally. With a smile, he slid open the paper door.

"I am," he replied, rather amused by her sudden gasp when she saw the changes to his appearance. "Shall we?"

"Y-You... Wow," she said, unable to find words. "How did you–?"

"It's a minor spell," he explained, "and it's only temporary, though it should last more than long enough for a day out."

Kaoru seemed fascinated by it, as she moved about him inspecting to see that his hair was now an even color. Though his bright, violet eyes still stood out, at least the hair didn't anymore. But before Kaoru could do anything more to mess with his hair, Kenshin reached back and pulled it into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck, hoping to keep it out of his face.

"And here I thought Kaoru-dono was in a hurry," he said teasingly.

She suddenly pulled back, a blush spreading across her face. "Oh! I'm really sorry – it's just... you look so _different_ without the red," she said, a sheepish laugh escaping her lips. "Really, I'm ready to go."

When Kaoru grabbed a shinai for herself on the way out, Kenshin felt almost guilty when he asked her for one as well. She gave him a sharp, scrutinizing look; she either didn't believe that he knew how to use one, or she thought him too injured to use one, or perhaps both. But she didn't say anything more than an admonition to be careful before she handed one to him as well. They were on their way shortly after.

It was a pleasant day outside – not terribly hot, but the sun was shining. Not likely a day for rain, and for that, Kenshin was grateful. Rain would have most certainly spoiled their plans at the marketplace. The dojo wasn't far from the marketplace, he realized. The first time he'd been on this road, it had seemed a much longer distance, though he'd been rather delirious at the time. Kaoru seemed quite pleased to have company with her, as she moved from booth to booth with a great deal of excitement. As poor of a cook that she was, Kenshin was pleasantly surprised to find that she was actually quite good at picking out the best produce she could find, and then at bargaining down the prices much further than he would have dared to push. Once they made it to the tailor's shop, Kaoru tugged Kenshin inside by the sleeve of his gi and began showing him some of her favorite fabrics. Kenshin winced at the price tags on a few of the fabrics she was showing him.

"Kaoru-dono, I don't have enough money to–" he began to protest, but she cut him off with a glare. He gulped.

"You'll need something that will last, Kenshin," she said by way of an explanation. "As much of a good tailor that Watanabe-san is, a good fabric will stay intact far longer. Don't worry about it."

Kenshin sighed; it was no use arguing with her once she made her mind up (Kaoru was a stubborn girl, after all), though he did wonder how she managed to afford all this. Perhaps her dojo was worth more than he thought it was, despite the fact that kenjutsu was far from being a popular alternative to magic.

Despite his small protests – he had to be polite, after all_ – _he was measured for two new outfits, and found that he could indeed afford it when Watanabe quoted him the price. Kaoru seemed to be on good terms with this Watanabe, as he clearly discounted the cost of the new clothing without a word of price-wrestling. So that was why Kaoru had said not to worry about it, he realized. Kenshin thanked the tailor profusely as he paid for the services, and Watanabe told him not to worry about it and that the clothing would be ready by the end of the week.

"Watanabe is an old friend of my father's," Kaoru explained once they were outside again, before Kenshin could even ask. "He considers it a favor to my father to help take care of me."

"Ah, I see," Kenshin said with a bit of surprise. The late Kamiya-san certainly had a decent number of old friends, and he wondered once again just what kind of a man Kaoru's father had been. He almost would have liked to meet him.

However, Kenshin's thoughts on the matter were quickly interrupted when he bumped into a dark-haired young boy. With a muttered apology, the boy ran off – but not before Kenshin realized that he'd just fallen victim to a pickpocket. Muttering the words to a harmless replacement spell, he quickly summoned a small burst of energy and retrieved his wallet from the boy's shirt, stumbling only slightly as he did so, ears ringing a little. He hated to do this kind of thing to the poor kid – he was probably just trying to get by – but he couldn't very well let the boy get away with such a petty crime entirely.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked from beside him. "Kenshin, are you all right?"

Catching his breath, he turned to her with a tight smile. "I'm fine; this one is just a little clumsy."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything more. Kenshin was grateful that she didn't press the issue, though now he had a prickling, bad feeling that they were being watched. Perhaps that wasn't such a wise idea, but he said nothing as he followed Kaoru to the inn she'd said Tsubame worked at. Hopefully a good meal would get his mind off the trouble, for now.

* * *

Despite the typical bustle of the marketplace, anyone with at least a decent amount of skill in magic – though not many were left post-Purge – could recognize someone else with a great deal of skill even from the after-draft of the smallest of spells. And as unlikely as the presence of more than one such skilled user in a single place was in this time and place, there was another who could not help but notice the powerful after-draft of the replacement spell that had been used in the middle of the endless rows of booths. It held a sharp bite not unlike a dragon's claws, and the powerful, heady scent of the ancients. 

One of these individuals had been shocked to find another magic-user, but was not yet skilled enough in his own methods to be able to pinpoint exactly who had been responsible for it. But he did know that it somehow involved Yahiko, and suddenly he was worried. He would have to find the kid as soon as he could, get him out of there. But at the same time, he was rather excited to find that he might have just found the one person who he felt could solve a great deal of his problems, one way or another.

The other also knew exactly who had caused the minor disturbance; he recognized the scent of the after-draft and had been expecting this one to show up for some time now. He too was excited, but mostly because he knew his efforts were finally showing him results he'd been hoping to see. He looked around the sea of heads in the crowd, trying to find the red one that the infamous Majutsusha had. It wasn't there; Battousai wasn't a fool and would likely be disguised. Instead, he followed the after-draft, and saw as it lead to a smallish, dark-haired man with a bandage on his cheek and his female companion as they continued walking through the booths as if nothing had happened. Battousai had found another woman, had he? That was also just as well; if there was even the slightest attachment to the woman, he would be far easier to snare. With a toothy grin, he vanished back into the crowd.

* * *

Lunch at the Akabeko was a rather enjoyable affair, as far as Kenshin was concerned. Despite the occasional embarrassing comment from Kaoru's friend Tae (who Kaoru insisted was _never_ "like that"), the food and service had been excellent, and Kenshin rather enjoyed being able to get away from the dojo for at least a little while. He hadn't been in one place for so long since... well, since a time he didn't particularly want to think about at the moment, but that was over a decade ago now. It wasn't worth dwelling on something that would dampen the good mood the group was in at the moment. 

Unfortunately, the mood didn't last long. Over Kaoru's laughter at a comment Tae made, Kenshin's attention was suddenly pulled away when he was sure he overheard someone say _Battousai_ across the room. Startled, he automatically allowed himself to eavesdrop, but was careful to keep a smile plastered on his face. Two men across the room were talking about another murder, one from the previous night that had clearly involved magic.

"You really can't think it's Battousai that's responsible for all of these murders, can you?" one of the men was saying. "Last I heard, Battousai was killed in the Purge."

"Nobody found his body," the second man pointed out.

"Fine then, he _disappeared_ during the Purge. Happy? Either way, he hasn't been around in what, ten years?" The man sighed. "You can't be seriously thinking that Battousai is around."

"But who else would have that kind of power to kill that many people so quickly?"

"There exists more than one Majutsusha, Sadao."

The second man – Sadao – snorted derisively. He'd clearly made up his own mind on who was responsible, and Kenshin had to work to keep his grin from turning to a grimace. Whoever this person was that was murdering people seemed to _want_ them to think he was responsible for it.

"Well, when you hear that the police have successfully captured this mass murderer, you can be surprised when you find that it is indeed Battousai responsible," Sadao snapped back.

The first man sighed again. "Sure, Sadao. Sure thing."

"You can't really think that someone other than Battousai is–"

"Kenshin?" And suddenly, his attention was brought back to his own table, a hand waving tentatively in front of his face.

"Oro?" he squawked, startled, elbow sliding off the table and nearly throwing him off-balance.

Kaoru giggled. "Daydream much?"

"I'm really sorry about that, Kaoru-dono!"

"It's all right, Kenshin," she said, the laughter not quite out of her voice yet. "So, are we going to sit here all afternoon, then?"

"The tab –"

"– Is already taken care of," Kaoru interrupted.

"Kaoru-dono..."

But she didn't reply as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the Akabeko, offering a quick goodbye to Tsubame and Tae on her way out. Kenshin managed half of one before Kaoru had pulled him completely out of the restaurant.

Kenshin tried his best to continue to enjoy the afternoon walking through the town with Kaoru, he really did; but it was difficult not to try and figure out who was responsible for these murders in his name. Although he didn't particularly like the title that had been given to him during those years, he couldn't very well allow someone else to take it and drag it through the mud like that. It was a title that he had to bear on his own, and it wasn't one he ever wanted to see used lightly. Was the impostor someone that actually knew him? The only ones he knew that might have survived were..._ Oh gods. _They certainly weren't people he wanted to encounter; not now, and not ever.

While he knew he should probably take far more precautions, he realized that if there was any Majutsusha of the level of the individuals he had in mind, he probably had more than alerted them with his little stunt in the marketplace with the pickpocket. This was bad, and he needed to pay more attention.

Kaoru seemed to pick up on the fact that he was distracted.

"I suppose I've tired you out enough for your first day out in some time," she said suddenly with a sheepish smile. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Ah, yes, I'm feeling fine, Kaoru-dono. It's not your fault; I must be a little tired, is all. I'm really sorry about that," he replied with a smile. "I really have enjoyed our outing today."

It was the truth, after all, and Kaoru seemed pleased to hear it. And if Kaoru was pleased, he supposed he was as well.

"I'm glad," she said. "But if you're up for it, I have one more place I want to take you today. It's on the way back to the dojo."

Kenshin smiled and nodded. "I would love to."

They walked together in the direction of the bridge over the creek that led back to the Kamiya dojo, but instead of taking the path over the bridge, Kaoru led Kenshin down a smaller side path that took them closer to the creek, and then on to a small grove of sakura trees that stretched across both sides of the creek. Kenshin quickly saw why Kaoru might want to take him to that particular place. The cherry trees were in full blossom now, and with the afternoon sunlight filtering down through the branches, it really was a beautiful sight. There was a log just next to the creek, and Kaoru led him down to it before she sat down, her back to the creek.

"I used to come here a lot with my father when I was a child," she explained when Kenshin sat beside her. "Spring is my favorite time of year because of this place. Not many people know about it, so it's almost always quiet. This log wasn't always here, but it does have a nice view of the blossoms if you sit on it, don't you think?"

Kenshin smiled in agreement. It did provide a nice view, and to be honest, he couldn't recall the last time he'd taken time to appreciate the season's natural offerings. And to share it with someone he had actually begun to grow to care about... nothing really could be better, at this moment.

He had allowed himself to grow so relaxed in the moment that he didn't realize – until _far too late –_ that there was a dangerous presence closing in on them quickly. But suddenly, he felt the binding spell form just a split-second too late to throw up any sort of defense against it, and before he could even shout a word of warning to Kaoru, he felt the energy from the spell strike his back, freezing all movement. With joints locked, tongue and lungs numbed he could do nothing as he saw a black shadow moved in behind them and dark arms reach around Kaoru's waist and face. Kaoru's sudden yelp of surprise was muffled by a dark hand, and _gods she was being taken from him_!

"This is the price you pay for letting your guard down, _Battousai_," he heard a gravelly voice snarl in his ear from behind, and then the hands pulled Kaoru away from his side. Kaoru's screams were muted, and Kenshin felt as though his heart would stop as he struggled – uselessly – against the binding spell. A sudden burst of light with a word in the tongue of the ancients, the powerful draft of a vanishing spell, and both Kaoru and the owner of the voice were gone.

When the binding spell wore off moments later, Kenshin gasped for air, falling forward off the log to his knees with a choked sob, pounding the ground with a clenched fist in anger and frustration until he felt the side of his hand bruise. He didn't care. After all that, in the one moment he'd finally allowed himself to let his guard down, Kaoru had been–

And then it occurred to him exactly what was going on. He knew that voice, the style of magic that had been used, the stench of the after-draft was more than telling. He also knew that the man he would now have to track down was more than in the throes of _majubyoki_, a madness that came from an imbalance between a Majutsusha and his contractor.

"_Jin'e!_" Kenshin roared down the river, even though he knew the man was much too far away to hear him now.

* * *

Kaoru coughed and scowled as the crazy man who'd kidnapped her – Jin'e, he'd said his name was – lit up another cigarette and blew the first puff of smoke in a steady stream from his nose. She hated the smell of burning tobacco, really. And she'd decided from the moment she realized what had happened that she absolutely did not like this Jin'e, either. She was being used as bait for Kenshin, that much she knew for certain. And while she was indeed afraid, at the same time she was also angry, though she couldn't do much with rope binding her wrists and ankles. 

"Don't worry, your Battousai will surely find his way here," Jin'e suddenly said with a low chuckle and a grin. "I made sure to leave a trail he can't _afford_ to miss."

Kaoru curled her lip in a snarl, but said nothing. This man was itching for a fight, and she knew that if she provoked him, he might hurt her – and she had a good feeling that _that_ would be more than cause enough for Kenshin to fight him. The fear returned with an uneasy clawing at her stomach; this was the first day that Kenshin had been outside the dojo in a week due to injuries that – while healing quite well – would still be a cause of concern.

Another concern was the fact that Jin'e was clearly a magic-user, possibly a Majutsusha like Kenshin. If that was the case, Kenshin would be forced into a duel; while Kaoru had never actually _seen _one before, she had heard plenty about how dangerous they could be. And also, if Jin'e was a Majutsusha, perhaps he was the one responsible for all the recent murders in Battousai's name. Had that all been an attempt to get Kenshin's attention?

"And here he comes, as predicted," Jin'e chuckled, tossing his cigarette to the ground as his gravelly voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked down the path with wide eyes, almost ashamed at the hope that welled in her chest at his arrival. There he was, taking steady, firm steps towards them, staff in hand – he must have stopped by the dojo on his way there – and... She froze.

Kenshin wore an expression she hoped to never see again.

Eyes narrowed into a frightening, cold glare, sparkling with gold light, and his entire being began to glow a bright blue that lit up the clearing, a beacon in the dusk. Red slowly bled back into his hair even as he approached, as if the coloring spell was being pushed back. The sheer power that seemed to radiate from him stole her breath away.

"It's about time, Battousai," Jin'e said, though the grin never left his face. "You must not have been too worried about what was going to happen to your bitch."

Kaoru began to protest at the derogatory term, but Kenshin's icy voice cut the silence before she could even find her voice.

"Let her go, Jin'e. This isn't about her."

"So you do care what happens to her, then?"

"You should not have involved outsiders."

"Ah, but she obviously holds a special place among them, if none of the recent deaths of other _outsiders_ were enough to bring you out of hiding," Jin'e returned, gesturing outwards. "You're so predictable, Battousai – you always come for the woman, even if you know it will likely mean the death of her."

"You speak of what you do not understand, Jin'e," Kenshin hissed. "Your quarrel is with me, and not her. If you lay a hand on her–"

"You'll kill me?" Jin'e laughed, a sound that was both terrifying and disgusting to Kaoru. She shuddered. "_I look forward to it_, Battousai."

And before Kaoru could look away, cold, black eyes and a maniacal grin met her gaze, mouth widening with a single whispered word that she did not know the meaning of, but quickly learned the power behind it as she suddenly found that she couldn't breathe.

"Ken...shin," she gasped.

Kenshin growled, and Jin'e laughed once more. "You see, Battousai? You're the one that involved her. I give her three minutes, maybe four before she dies of suffocation – and you know as well as I do the only way to break this spell is to kill the wielder, or the girl herself has to break it. Highly doubtful, that."

"_Jin'e_!"

It was the final warning before Kaoru's world exploded in light, punctuated only by murmurings and exclamations of beautiful words she didn't understand.

_There were some who considered magic-battles beautiful. With swirling lights and cursive glowing runes appearing in the air, voices speaking the lilting, melodic ancient tongues of the elements, perhaps this was not a poor assessment. That is, if one also considered this to be a siren-like beauty of such battles; they were easily as dangerous as they were entrancing. _

Kaoru watched, completely captivated by the sight. She saw barriers fly up, hands were flying in all matters of patterns and gestures, and flying lights crashed against barriers that were nearly invisible. It was almost like watching a strange dream-world come to life; she was sure she saw green-glowing spiders come from within Jin'e's terrain, only to be crushed by blasts of light from Kenshin's staff. But she was losing air, and stars began flashing across her vision along with the magical bursts of energy.

At this rate, she was going to die.

A burst of red blossomed from Kenshin's shoulder as he took a bad hit, and Jin'e crowed with victory at the small advantage that he'd created. But with a snarl and the words for another powerful spell uttered, Kenshin raised his staff high into the air with his grip on the pommel, and with a crackle of lightning, the staff transformed into a Japanese blade that glowed with the same blue light that surrounded Kenshin. He charged forward once the transformation had completed, and moved so quickly that he seemed to disappear entirely.

Jin'e cackled, parrying with a quickly-formed shield of light around his own staff, but suddenly there was an ear-splitting _crack_ as his arm bent in an entirely wrong direction from the strength behind the blow. Kenshin's leg swept Jin'e's from under him, bright light accompanying Jin'e on his fall as the much larger man toppled to the ground with a pained shriek. With a great deal of ice in Kenshin's eyes – _this wasn't the man Kaoru knew! –_ he raised the blade high over his head in preparation for a final strike.

_He's going to kill this man! I... I can't let him do that!_

"Ken...shin, n-_no!_"

The blade paused mid-strike, just enough of an opening for Jin'e to kick out at Kenshin's legs. Kenshin grimaced as his knee buckled and sent him to the ground next to Jin'e. The madman scrambled to his knees and flipped Kenshin onto his back, pinning him with a knee to his chest as he wrapped his hand tightly around the redhead's throat. Unable to break free, Kenshin began chanting but was cut short with an airless gasp as Jin'e tightened his grip and slammed his other hand into Kenshin's wounded shoulder. The lighted sword in Kenshin's hand flickered several times before the light faded, leaving the staff in its place.

"You're weak, Battousai," Jin'e spat. Then he began chanting as well.

Kaoru tried to cry out, but couldn't find the breath. She didn't want this to happen – all she wanted was for Kenshin to have one less death on his hands. Now Kenshin was the one whose life was at stake, and she was powerless to help. This was all her fault!

_Kenshin!_

Red light crackled from Jin'e's hand, but instead of forming into a proper spell, it distorted and sank into the madman's arm. With a piercing shriek, Jin'e dropped his grip on Kenshin's throat and grabbed his own arm instead, collapsing to the side and howling in pain. Kenshin snatched his staff and rolled away from Jin'e, coughing as he came to his knees. Using the staff as a crutch to help him to his feet, he took several steps towards Jin'e as the madman writhed on the ground.

Kaoru's heart skipped a beat; was Kenshin really going to kill Jin'e? She didn't know what to do anymore – last time she'd tried to stop him, he ended up nearly getting killed instead. If Kenshin didn't kill Jin'e, there was always the chance that Jin'e would come after him again later, or would even strike out again like he had the last time. Was she going against her father's teachings and placing too much value of one life over another? This was all so confusing and she was running out of air and Kenshin was raising the staff and–

"_Kenshin!_" she cried, and then sweet air rushed into her lungs at a dizzying rate. Coughing and gasping, the world went white, and when she came to she saw Kenshin's face above hers, eyes wide with concern. He was crouching on the ground, and then she suddenly realized that she was laying in his arms.

"Kaoru-dono!" he exclaimed when he saw her open her eyes.

"It's... it's not worth it... killing him," she whispered, glad to finally have her voice back. "Please. D-Don't become like him."

Kenshin looked surprised at her statement, but before he could say anything, the ice returned to his eyes – but not as intensely as before, Kaoru noticed – when they both heard a deep-throated chuckle from Jin'e's fallen direction. Kenshin helped Kaoru to her knees before he placed a hand on his staff and twisted to face Jin'e, slowly rising.

"Looks like your woman was strong enough after all, Battousai," Jin'e said.

"Jin'e," Kenshin began, voice low with just a hint of the remaining anger from before.

"Better finish this deal up. These things always should end in the death of the loser." Jin'e suddenly pulled a dagger from a hidden pouch at his waist with his good hand, and stabbed it deep into his own chest with a grunt. Kaoru cried out in shock and Kenshin flinched, and though Kaoru couldn't see his expression, she knew he was just as surprised as she was. "Don't give me that look, Battousai. This is just as well; I can't use the one thing that entertained me in life anymore, with this damned curse. You still know as well as I do that once you dive into the darker arts, you always turn back to them, just like _that_. That's the way of all Majutsusha."

With a gurgle, Jin'e spat blood to the side, but even the sounds of death didn't drown out the eerie, echoing chuckle that accompanied the murderer to his death.

Once the air was silent, Kaoru looked back at Kenshin with tears in her eyes. Was that how Kenshin had stopped Jin'e – a curse? But he hadn't killed his opponent, she realized. He had stopped. But before she could say anything of that regard to Kenshin, suddenly he cried out, clutching his arm with a grimace. _Oh gods, he was hurt and I completely forgot!_

"Kenshin?"

The strength seemed to bleed from Kenshin's knees, and Kaoru moved to catch him before he collapsed. It was then that she realized he was incredibly pale and breathing heavily, sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Kenshin!" she cried, worried. Did Jin'e place a curse on him as well? "Kenshin, please, wake up! Kenshin!"

But no amount of calling brought Kenshin back to awareness.

* * *

The air in the clearing was ripe with the heavy scent of many after-drafts and death, dulled only slightly by the morning dew. A frustrated growl escaped the lips of the young man who stood in the middle of the mangled clearing, knowing full well that he'd more than missed the actual battle that took place here. One of the opponents was lying – dead – near one edge of the clearing, a twisted, maniacal, smiling expression forever etched into his face. 

"Damn it," the young man hissed. While he didn't know what Battousai actually looked like, he knew for damned sure that the dead man at his feet wasn't the infamous Majutsusha. Clenching a fist in anger, he turned to a nearby tree and with a word, slammed his red-glowing fist into the trunk, shattering it with a single blow.

He would find Battousai. And when he did, he had a score to settle with him.

Until then, however, he knew he shouldn't linger here long. A magic-battle of this scale tended to attract a lot of attention from the police, especially with the damn mass murdering bastard still at large. Part of him hoped they caught Battousai, but not before he got his hands on him.

* * *

_The dragon-child was sitting in the hut with the angry Dragon Master, his legs smarting heavily and tears streaking down his face in silence. He had done something in the wrong manner – again – and had managed to get himself injured badly enough that he couldn't walk for the rest of that day._

"_Stupid whelp," Shishou muttered as he tightly wrapped the burns on the dragon-child's legs with cool, herb-soaked linen. "I told you time and again that you don't actually try channeling energy into a new technique until after you've completely mastered the spell. But did you listen? No. And that's why you got burned."_

"_I-I'm sorry, Shishou," the dragon-child whimpered, voice shaking with a great deal of effort not to cry in front of the larger man. _

"_Stop apologizing, damn it!" Shishou snapped. "You didn't do anything to _me_; it's your own body you should be concerned about, you idiot. When you don't do these techniques properly in a real battle, you'll do more damage to yourself than the enemy will. The Dragons are extremely picky about speaking their language properly, and they won't let you get away with messing it up. It's part of the contract – and I've _told _you this countless numbers of times already."_

_The dragon-child said nothing, biting his lip once his master's hands glided over the worst of the burns. Despite Shishou's harsh words, his hands were surprisingly gentle, and it took a quick glance at Shishou's pinched, frustrated face for the dragon-child to realize that Shishou wasn't just angry – he was worried as well. But he continued to lecture anyway._

"_You do understand that some spells can become curses if you do not recite them properly, do you not? And a curse is far worse than any minor backlash from the Dragons ever could be. Think of this as the Dragons' way of reminding you not to go down that path. You can't fix a curse with some bandages and herbal ointment."_

"_Yes, Shishou," the dragon-child whispered, cowed._

_Shishou snorted as he finished tying off the bandages, and looked directly into the eyes of the dragon-child. "I better not catch you in the throes of a backlash again, boy."_

_This time, the dragon-child simply nodded. He knew that Shishou knew all about the Dragons and their laws, and almost every spell imaginable. Shishou was as close to a Dragon as any mere kijutsushi could ever become. It was best to listen to his words; the dragon-child most certainly didn't want to be cursed, after all._

"_You aren't to mess with these dressings until I tell you to do so – and that means don't scratch. You don't want your legs to turn ugly with scars now, do you?"_

_The dragon-child shook his head. Of course he didn't!_

"_Good. You stay here and keep your legs up, and don't get up without my permission. Don't you dare think of this as a means of getting out of your chores, boy. Next time, I'll make you walk on the damn burns."_

"_Yes, Shishou."_

* * *

Kaoru scrubbed furiously at the red stains in the linen strips, taking her frustration out on the bandages as if they were somehow at fault. Kenshin was still unconscious, and had been for almost two full days now. The wound he'd taken to his shoulder during the battle wasn't healing well, Genzai had told her. All in all, the situation looked _bad_, and she felt miserable. 

_If I hadn't let that crazy bastard take me, then this wouldn't have happened,_ part of her kept saying over an over like a mantra. _This is all my fault._

_But there was no way that you could have known Jin'e was coming for you,_ the rational voice would reply. And then she would grab her head in even further frustration and convince herself that she was insane for having an argument with herself.

Kaoru was infinitely glad for Genzai's presence right now; she hated having to leave Kenshin by himself while she taught her usual classes of kenjutsu. She couldn't very well cancel the classes, since it was her sole source of income right now (outside of what her father had left to her in his will), and she needed something to distract her from the present problem. It wasn't working very well; she would find her mind wandering back to the guest bedroom even during drills, causing her to often lose count, much to her students' amusement.

But she was far from amused at this point. It became more and more disheartening when she would go back to check on Kenshin only to find that his shoulder wound was still slowly oozing blood, and that he had hardly stirred. Genzai was baffled, and said that perhaps the duel had drained him of his strength.

Kaoru hung the freshly-cleaned linen cloths on a line to dry in the sun, dumped the soapy bucket, and went back to check on Kenshin again, only allowing herself the smallest measure of hope that he was beginning to come around. Logic dictated that she doubt it, but even the much heavier doubt couldn't squash that little bit of hope. She smelled dinner cooking as she approached the door, and realized that Tsubame must have come to cook again. With a small smile, Kaoru couldn't help but feel grateful for her friends' help. She really did have some excellent friends.

Genzai was tying off the bandages on Kenshin's shoulder when Kaoru walked in. Wiping his hands on a towel next to him, he looked up at Kaoru with a weary smile.

"How is he?" Kaoru ventured in a whisper.

"Well, the wound is finally beginning to heal," Genzai replied quietly. "A little color's coming back to his face as well, which is a good sign. I do think he was just drained from the battle, or from some spell that his opponent might have cast on him. I'm not an expert on magic, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, and the spell is just now fading. He might even wake up later tonight."

Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief; that news was far better than nothing. "Is there anything I should do if he wakes up?"

"Make sure he gets something to eat, and lots of rest. He'll probably be pretty tired and weakened from blood loss, but I think once he gets enough down time, he'll be back on his feet in a matter of days."

Kaoru nodded, and smiled. "You must be tired, Genzai-sensei. Thank you so much for your help; I don't know what I would have done without you."

"It's no trouble at all, Kaoru-chan," Genzai replied, patting her on the shoulder. "And if you need anything, you know where to find me."

Kaoru walked the older healer to the gate and bid him farewell once more, reassured that he would return the following morning to check on Kenshin's progress. Dinner that evening was lonely, once Tsubame left and the sky grew dark. Kenshin was still unconscious, but Kaoru left a tray of food ready by his bedside just in case he did wake up. She brought her own futon and a book into the guest room – just in case Kenshin woke up and not because she was lonely, she kept telling herself – setting it up next to the wall so she could comfortably lean back and read by candlelight for at least a little while.

_This is silly of me to be lonely_, she chided herself. _After all, I've spent several years living by myself, and I did just fine. And besides, Kenshin's still here, even if he's... not very responsive._

She fell asleep upright that night, waking early the next morning to a sore neck and back. Kenshin was still out, but he looked a little more restful than he had the night before. Standing up and stretching, she took the untouched tray back to the kitchen, put her futon and book back where they belonged, and started getting ready for the day. Genzai would probably be there soon to check on Kenshin anyway, and she had several classes to teach that day.

It was in the middle of her second morning session that she saw Genzai standing at the door with a smile on his face, and she _knew_. Kaoru had one of her higher-ranked students take over the drills as she followed the healer back to the guest room.

"Kenshin?" she asked quietly when she saw that he was sitting up with his eyes closed. At her voice, he seemed be startled and a little groggy, but he was _awake_.

"Kaoru-dono?"

"Kenshin!" She nearly flung herself at his bedside, she was so relieved that he was awake. "Gods, you worried us so badly. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, but much better," he said with a small smile. "I'm so sorry that I've worried you, I am."

Genzai quietly excused himself with a small bow, saying he would be back later that evening. Kaoru barely heard him leave.

"Kenshin, I... I'm really sorry about all this," Kaoru said suddenly. "If I hadn't dragged you all over town and let Jin'e kidnap me like that–"

"Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said seriously, cutting her off. "It's not your fault; you couldn't have known this was going to happen. If you want to place the blame on someone, you should blame me. I seem to have brought you a great deal of trouble."

"But you couldn't have known either that–"

"It's all right, Kaoru-dono. This is nothing I didn't entirely deserve."

Well, that wasn't the answer she was looking for. She wanted to be angry with him, but somehow she had been so worried that she couldn't be upset in any other way. Kaoru bit her lip and wanted to tell him that no, he didn't deserve it and it wasn't all right and that she was worried out of her mind for him, but she didn't. He clearly thought that this was entirely his fault, and she didn't want him to take that the wrong way.

"Kenshin, what... what happened?" she asked instead. "I know that you and Jin'e clearly are both Majutsusha, but he'd mentioned a curse, and..."

"I placed a curse on him that broke part of the contract with his power source," Kenshin replied solemnly. "It would have kept him from being able to use magic from that source ever again."

"Contract?"

Kenshin took a deep breath. "Every _kijutsu_ art – regardless of type – requires an energy or power source from nature," he explained. "And in order for humans to be able to access that energy, they have to make a contract with their source. That contract binds them to a particular set of laws and language, and in return they gain the ability to use the power for various spells; each type of source varies in that regard. This is why there are so many different _kijutsudou_ styles."

Kaoru nodded; that did make sense, in a way. "And how did you break that contract?"

"Contracts with the insect population are somewhat fragile and unstable, and are vulnerable to certain curses. Jin'e had a contract with spiders, who are sensitive to extreme temperatures. I placed an ice-related curse on him, and it broke his contract with the spiders."

Again, it did make sense. Kaoru was fascinated, though rather disgusted by the thought that Jin'e had been in league with spiders. Suppressing a shudder, she wondered briefly what manner of being that Kenshin had a contract with, but decided against asking after it – he might see her as rude and prying if she did.

Instead, she asked, "Is there any sort of spell or curse that can keep someone from healing?"

Kenshin paled slightly and hesitated, and for a moment Kaoru thought she'd asked entirely the wrong question. "Yes, I suppose there are curses like that, but not many."

"Did... did he place one on you?"

Kenshin shook his head. "No, he didn't." Kaoru waited for him to explain further, but Kenshin didn't look like he was going to say more than that for now.

"Well, maybe you just overtired yourself," she said, hoping that he would correct her. "Genzai thinks that's what happened, at least."

Kenshin seemed to be avoiding her gaze as he nodded. "Perhaps."

He clearly wasn't in the mood to say more, and while Kaoru did understand that he might not want to talk about it, she couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Changing the subject, she began fixing the dressings on his shoulder, telling him that he was to be resting for the remainder of the day, and that he would eat every last bite of the meal she was going to bring him. Perhaps it was a trick of the eyes, but he almost seemed relieved that she hadn't pressed the matter further.

For now, at least, she would let him think just that.

* * *

_**.to be continued.**_

* * *

_Eek, there were a __**lot **__more of you than I was expecting on the first chapter! -hides under rock- Good grief, this was supposed to be a really whimsical fic. Haha. Guess AU really is in vogue! ... And I've got stage fright. :x_

_I'm really sorry if this chapter was disappointing, especially after a long wait (hehe, does anyone even remember this story?). This is at least the third time I've had to come up with what was going to happen. I almost ended up making this a one-shot collection on the theme, but decided I'd left too many open ends in the first chapter to do so. Oops! So yes, plenty of canon elements to be had, but not necessarily in the same order._

_Anyway, again, I'm really sorry this took me so long. I'm really not used to writing AU or fantasy at all, but plotting this has proven to be rather fun and I would like to keep going with it. However, I can't promise quicker updates, since I am... uh... really slow. Really. Haha. _

_Thanks again to everyone who left comments on the first chapter! I was both shocked and amused by many of the comments, especially since there was more than one question concerning Kenshin's lack of an actual sword. Well, now you have at least part of an answer, I hope. 8D More to come... eventually! Ack. -dives back under rock-_

_And as much as they frighten me sometimes, comments are always very much appreciated. :3_


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